Travel Agencies & Services Industry Profile

Companies in this industry arrange travel and traveler accommodations and include travel agents, tour operators, and other travel services like time-share exchanges, visitors bureaus, and ticket offices. Major companies include American Express Travel, CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit), Expedia, Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline), and Sabre, as well as BCD Travel (the Netherlands), CITS (China), H.I.S. (Japan), and TUI Group (Germany).

Annual revenue from worldwide tourism, which includes travel agency services, is about $1.3 trillion, according to the World Tourism Organization. Travel agency services are prevalent in the countries that spend the most on tourism; tourist receipts, which includes travel arrangements and reservation services, are highest in the US, Spain, France, Thailand, and the UK.

The US travel services industry includes about 24,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $71 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by business and leisure travel, which depends on the economy. The profitability of individual companies depends on marketing. Large companies have an advantage in being able to provide a wider range of services, especially to corporate customers, and to afford sophisticated websites. Small companies can compete effectively by providing service to a few large customers, specializing in a service niche, or serving a local market. The US industry is fragmented: the 50 largest companies account for about 45% of revenue.

Two major factors have shaped the industry in recent years: ...